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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225805">when we went from friends to this</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/codenametargeter/pseuds/codenametargeter'>codenametargeter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Consent is Sexy, F/F, Ingrid is a baby queer who has to work her way through things, no beta we die like Glenn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:09:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,005</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/codenametargeter/pseuds/codenametargeter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been an entire day since they got back and Ingrid still can't stop thinking about how Dorothea called her "my Ingrid".</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dorothea Arnault/Ingrid Brandl Galatea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>when we went from friends to this</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Well. I guess I go here now. Cannot believe they didn't give us an A-support conversation between these two ESPECIALLY after that paralogue. The nerve.</p><p>Anyways, I'm still trying to get a handle on everyone's voices but snippets of this dialogue wouldn't get out of my brain so I wrote it anyways.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Dorothea! Wait!”</p><p>The words were out of her mouth before Ingrid could stop herself and she was already regretting them as the older girl stopped in her tracks and turned to face her. “Yes?”</p><p>“Can we talk? Please?” There was something about the way that Dorothea raised her eyebrows inquisitively that made something in her stomach twist in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. </p><p>“Of course,” Dorothea said. “I assume you don’t mean here?”</p><p>Ingrid shook her head. “In private please.”</p><p>Something in the other woman seemed to soften and she spoke more quietly. “Perhaps the library? It’s usually empty this time of day.”</p><p>“Yes, that sounds… the library then.” </p><p>With a little toss of her hair, Dorothea looped her arm through hers and started guiding them towards the stairs, talking the whole time although Ingrid wasn’t entirely sure what about. A wave of nerves seemed to have swept over her that had also left her barely able to concentrate on anything but putting one foot in front of the other. Thankfully, whatever story Dorothea was telling didn’t seem to require much more than an affirmative sound now and then to confirm that she was listening even though she wasn’t. This had seemed like such a good idea in the five seconds before she’d chased out of the entry hall after her and now all she could do was think about all the ways in which it might go wrong. And what was even the point of talking? If she had just kept her mouth shut, this all would have faded into memory after a few days. She was probably about to make it worse.</p><p>There was no one in the library when they arrived but Dorothea led her up the stairs anyways to give them even more privacy. It felt unnecessary but a part of her was grateful anyways. Ingrid leaned against a sturdy bookshelf, taking solace in something that was solid and sure. </p><p>“So,” Dorothea said, voice as light and musical as ever. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”</p><p>Ingrid licked her lips. “When you… when you said ‘my Ingrid’ yesterday… what did you mean?”</p><p>“Hm? I’m not sure what you mean.”</p><p>“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”</p><p>“Oh!” Her green eyes lit up with mirth. “You must be talking about when you proposed to me!”</p><p>“I didn’t--” Ingrid let her breath out in frustrated huff. “I’m being serious, Dorothea.”</p><p>“Rings with gemstones like that usually are.”</p><p>She could feel her cheeks flush pink yet again and she hated it. “I didn’t mean it like that--”</p><p>Dorothea smiled and reached out to pat her cheek. “I know but you’re so lovely when you blush like this.”</p><p>Folding her arms across her chest like a shield, Ingrid furrowed her brow. “If you’re going to treat this like a joke, then I wish you hadn’t even bothered.”</p><p>“I’ll stop,” Dorothea said, letting her hand drop back down to her side. “Sorry. It’s just gotten to be a bit of a habit.” </p><p>“It’s fine,” Ingrid said even though it wasn’t. “Are you going to answer my question?” </p><p>“What was it again?” </p><p>“What did you mean by ‘my Ingrid’?” </p><p>For the first time all day, Ingrid thought she could see a flash of hesitation in Dorothea’s expression as she blinked and immediately hid it behind a smile again. It was hard to look away from her lips. “It was just a slip of the tongue.” </p><p>“You said it twice.”</p><p>“Did I?” </p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Silence hung between them and Ingrid was about to just walk right back down those stairs and find somewhere she could scream out her frustration in peace when Dorothea spoke again. “I suppose… I suppose that it was just my way of expressing that I care about you. After all, we are friends, right?”</p><p>This, at least, was comfortable territory. “I’m in your debt for warning me about that suitor,” she said. “If you hadn’t told me what sort of person he was or insisted on going with me to investigate, I’m not sure what might have happened. My family would have never recovered from association with someone like that.”</p><p>“As lovely as I’m sure your family is, I warned you because I couldn’t bear the thought of you marrying that jerk.”</p><p>“I thought you didn’t like nobles.”</p><p>Dorothea shrugged. “That’s complicated but I think that you and I are more alike than you might think.”</p><p>Ingrid blinked. “Really. How?”</p><p>“We both have to marry well to survive.”</p><p>“I…” Words failed her and Ingrid found herself left with no other response than to blink again as she straightened back up. “It’s part of a noble’s duty. For the good of House Galatea.”</p><p>“Well now you sound like Ferdie,” Dorothea said with a laugh. “But it’s not just duty. If it was, Felix would worry about more than his swordplay.”</p><p>It was all getting more confusing by the minute. “I… what does this have to do with you calling me your Ingrid?”</p><p>“Do you want it to mean something?”</p><p>Her head was starting to hurt and something inside her twisted. Maybe she’d been wrong and all of this was nothing. Maybe it was for the best. It certainly would be easier if she could just push any of these strange feelings away and concentrate entirely on her classwork. The Professor had shown her a new lance technique the other day that she was still trying to master. That seemed like a much better use of her time than whatever--</p><p>“Ingrid.”</p><p>She jolted back to herself, suddenly painfully aware how noticeable her runaway thoughts must have been. </p><p>Dorothea was looking at her intently, her head cocked slightly to the left and resting lightly against her fingers. “Would you rather I put it plainly?”</p><p>Ingrid nodded.</p><p>“Then yes, Ingrid. When I said ‘my Ingrid’ it was a slip of the tongue but it was because I care about you as a friend and as someone who perhaps I might care more for if I were to let myself.”</p><p>Well. She had asked for plainly.</p><p>“Have I made you uncomfortable?” Dorothea asked after a few awkward seconds of silence.</p><p>“No, but…” Ingrid took a deep breath and let it out again as she tried to figure out the answer. Was she uncomfortable right now? Yes, but not how she thought Dorothea meant it. These weren’t the sort of things she enjoyed talking about. Not that she had much experience with that because sighing and scolding Sylvain for his exploits definitely did not count. She didn’t even spend much time thinking about them. But that wasn’t the question either. “I hadn’t considered… with other women before…” Goddess, she couldn’t even <em> say </em> it. There was no way that Dorothea wasn’t just going to pat her cheek condescendingly and walk out.</p><p>For the second time in probably as many minutes, Dorothea’s voice drags her out of her own mind. “It’s okay if you don’t. We can pretend this entire conversation never happened. I’m perfectly happy to keep on being your friend. If you’ll have me.”</p><p>“<em>No</em>!” Ingrid almost slapped a hand over her own mouth at how loud it sounded in an otherwise empty room. She settled for wincing. “I mean…” She took yet another deep breath. “We don’t have to pretend. I just… hadn’t…” Usually, full sentences were well within her capabilities but apparently not today. So she tried again. “I can’t. <em> We </em> can’t. It’s like you said. Neither of us… both of us have to…”</p><p>“I’m not proposing marriage, you darling thing. It doesn’t have to be that serious especially between friends. Although you did give me a ring...”</p><p>“And you gave it to the Professor.”</p><p>Something about Dorothea’s whole demeanor softened. “That wasn’t… I thought it would make it easier. You seemed so affronted by my teasing.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“They did give it back to me though.”</p><p>Ingrid dropped her gaze down to Dorothea’s hands to see the ring upon her index finger. How had she not noticed it before? “Oh.”</p><p>“It usually takes a bit more for me to leave someone speechless.”</p><p>“I find that I often don’t know what to say around you,” Ingrid said, finding her words in honesty.</p><p>“In which case, perhaps talking isn’t the best way to settle this.” Slowly, Dorothea took one step towards her and then another as if Ingrid was a horse she didn’t want to spook. Ingrid didn’t move away. Just as slowly yet deliberately, Dorothea reached out a hand to cup Ingrid’s face and waited for a brief moment before she moved it backwards, threading her fingers through her blonde hair. “This is me asking,” she said ever so softly, “before I pounce.”</p><p>Breathing. Breathing felt impossible now. Ingrid parted her lips ever so slightly. “I…”</p><p>Green eyes were locked with green eyes. “Do I have your permission?”</p><p>She couldn’t imagine saying anything but “Yes.” And then Dorothea’s lips were pressed softly against hers in a chaste kiss that she wanted to melt into and so she did, bringing her hands to the older girl’s hips to bring them even closer together. Their lips parted for a moment and when they met again, it was Ingrid who deepened the kiss, reveling in how soft Dorothea’s lips felt against her and how right this felt to do. </p><p>“Oh,” she whispered as they parted again.</p><p>There was a glimmer in the older girl’s green eyes that paired perfectly with her faint smile. “Oh.”</p><p>“That--” The word came out more like a squeak so she cleared her throat and tried again. “That was pouncing?”</p><p>Dorothea’s smile broadened. “I can pounce a little more if you’d like.” </p><p>Ingrid nodded and then let a quiet little sound of surprise that was mostly captured by Dorothea’s mouth as she pressed her against the bookshelves. The kiss was far less chaste this time and she melted into it, trying to enjoy it even as a part of her worried that she was doing something wrong and where was she supposed to put her--</p><p>“You can touch me you know.” The words were murmured in her ear before Dorothea began planting a line of feathery kisses down her jaw and back towards her lips. </p><p>Hesitantly, Ingrid raised one hand and wove it through the long waves of brown hair that Dorothea wore loose. It felt just as soft as it looked and she wondered how it might feel to spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but running her fingers through it with Dorothea’s head cradled in her lap as the sun warmed them both. The knuckles of her other hand lightly ran up and down Dorothea’s spine.</p><p>None of this was what she had expected but if all surprises turned out like this, she wasn’t going to object.</p><p>Footsteps beneath them startled them both out of the little dream world they’d found themselves in and Dorothea stepped away, both of them smoothing down their clothing even though whoever had walked into the library likely couldn’t see them. When she looked up again, her green eyes met Dorothea’s and simultaneously, they started laughing. Ingrid could feel the nerves washing away from her like the tide. </p><p>“What happens now?” Ingrid asked, keeping her voice quiet since they were still in a library after all.</p><p>Dorothea retrieved her hat from where it had fallen to the floor and replaced it on her head at its proper jaunty angle. “Whatever we want.”</p><p>She knew that wasn’t true. They both knew it wasn’t. Nothing had changed and they both still had the same anvils hanging over theirs but somehow, Ingrid’s didn’t feel like it weighed quite as heavily right now. She could be happy for awhile. If she chose to be.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Ingrid extended a hand towards her. “Would you like to get dinner with me, Dorothea?”</p><p>With all the grace of a dancer, Dorothea placed her hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “I would love that, my Ingrid.” </p><p>They could be happy for awhile. Together. </p>
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